Dignity Health-St. Mary Medical Center recently awarded two local non-profit organizations, LINC Housing and Project Angel Food, with essential funding to improve and expand their services to persons in need.
“The Community Health Grant Program is one way the hospital can work collaboratively to improve the health and wellness of the communities we serve,” said Carolyn Caldwell, St. Mary Hospital President. “Community partnerships are essential to expanding our mission to provide compassionate, high-quality care for everyone.”
St. Mary provided LINC Housing an $80,000 grant to expand health and wellness services for TAY (Transition Age Youth) at the Palace in Long Beach. The Palace is reserved for youth ages 18-24 that have aged out of the foster care system. The money from St. Mary will help LINC staff work with partners to place homeless children at the Palace and assess their health needs. LINC will be able to pilot health education and help residents find outside resources if needed. Over the past 35 years, LINC has helped create more than 7,800 affordable homes in 76 communities throughout California.
Project Angel Food received a $63,000 grant to expand their home delivery of medically tailored meals and nutritional counseling. They provide these services to older people living in Long Beach with chronic conditions, specifically HIV/AIDS, cancers, congestive heart failure and diabetes. Partnering with a food pantry, distribution center, and a volunteer outreach, Project Angel Food will be able to alleviate malnutrition, reduce food-related stress, increase medication adherence and improve well-being and health of the people they care for.
Project Angel Food was created 30 years ago by a group of compassionate volunteers who were concerned about our most fragile community members suffering in silence from malnutrition and the many other ravages of HIV/AIDS and has expanded its effective services to any person battling critical illness.
Sister Celeste Trahan, vice president of Mission Integration at St. Mary Medical Center, shared her gratitude for these critical partnerships and offered blessings to the staff and volunteers as they continue their mission to serve. “These two special organizations and their mission to improve population health will lead to healthier communities overall.”
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